Karnataka’s strategy to ease pressure on Bengaluru is to bring investment to where talent already exists, rather than making talent come to where the investment is, Priyank Kharge, Minister for Home Affairs, Information Technology, Biotechnology, and E-Governance, Govt. of Karnataka, said.
The minister was speaking on the sidelines of TechSparks, YourStory’s flagship startup and technology event. In a fireside chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO, YourStory and Bharat Project, Kharge spoke about the government’s plans to create opportunities for startups and talent beyond Bengaluru through targeted policies, infrastructure and region-specific centres of excellence.
“Because of the government’s constant push on its Beyond Bengaluru Mission and local economic acceleration programmes, Mysuru is today delivering close to Rs 4,000 crore in IT exports, Mangaluru close to Rs 3,500 crore, and Hubballi-Belagavi-Dharwad close to Rs 3,000 crore,” the minister highlighted.
He said manufacturing units and global capability centres (GCCs) have come up across the state, and that one of Apple’s supply chain partners operates out of Belagavi, doing precision manufacturing. The state has also announced a Bioeconomy Mission covering biotech and agritech, along with related schemes.
Kharge said the state runs dedicated entrepreneurship programmes for startups outside Bengaluru and cited recent deals to emphasise the state’s Beyond Bengaluru policy.
He said NTT acquired two Udupi-based startups for an undisclosed sum. There have also been acquisitions involving semiconductor design companies in Belagavi and Mangaluru.
He added that the founders involved are only 23 or 24 years old.
The government is setting up centres of excellence matched to each region’s strengths, Kharge said. “Wherever there is innovation possible, wherever we are able to ensure that the demography or the talent is good, we are tailor-making policies for that region, and we are ensuring that we accelerate growth,” he said.
“The government is extremely serious about this, which is why we are building centres of excellence based on each region’s geography and demography. We have an AI centre of excellence at IIIT Dharwad and another at IIIT Raichur. We have an agritech centre in Kalaburagi, and we are setting up a horticulture centre in Bagalkot. Wherever innovation is possible and talent is strong, we tailor policies for that region to accelerate growth,” he added.